And Now She's Gone(110)
She blindly swung the blade.
Deanna cried out and reached for her now bloody forehead.
Gray scrambled to her knees.
Deanna grabbed Gray’s leg.
The knife sank into Gray’s calf.
Gray donkey-kicked with her healthy leg. Soft cartilage—some part of Deanna Kelly—met the sole of her sneaker. She didn’t look back to see which part of Deanna she’d kicked.
She scrambled to the living room as Deanna Kelly rolled on the hallway floor.
In the living room, Gray shoved her hand into her battered purse.
Keys, lipsticks, tissue packets, boarding passes, tweezers, envelopes, wallet, gift cards—yes! The purse’s torn lining had hidden the prize.
Deanna staggered toward Gray. Blood stained her face and filled her mouth. Her knife glistened red with the blood of two women.
Gray held up the gun. “Stop.”
But Deanna Kelly didn’t know how to stop.
Gray squeezed the trigger.
Deanna Kelly stopped and dropped to her knees. The shock on her face was brighter than the bloom of red spreading across her white tank top. “You…” She dropped to her knees.
Then Gray felt herself drifting … drifting … falling …
* * *
Big men wearing blue wool or yellow canvas swarmed the Christophers’ house. One man in yellow shone a flashlight in Gray’s eyes. “What’s your name, miss?”
Gray blinked past the tears and croaked, “Name?”
And then she laughed and laughed.
EPILOGUE
The soft, warm winds of Cabo San Lucas drifted past the open windows and lifted the sheer, gauzy curtains. Palm trees rustled as birds called out to each other. Out there, turquoise jewel–colored waters swirled against the sand.
Gray turned over in the king-size bed.
Dominick Rader lay on his back and stared at the slow-turning ceiling fan as his chest rose and fell.
She tugged a lock of his disheveled hair. “You okay?”
“I am now.” He smiled at her.
She kissed him. Then she kissed him again and kept her eyes open and let the millions of butterflies flutter around her belly. “Do you think people know?”
Nick shrugged. “People paid to snoop saw us leave together after the reception. They’ll think we got drunk and…”
“Hooked up.”
“Happens all the time at weddings.”
Gray had caught Jennifer staring at her and Nick throughout Clarissa’s wedding, and she’d noticed how Nick had held Gray on the dance floor. The blonde wasn’t dumb.
His finger traced her nose. “I have something for you.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “A pony?”
He shook his head, his expression now serious.
She hardened. “What? What’s wrong? Did she escape somehow?”
The medical examiner had confirmed that Tea Christopher had been dead in that living room since mid-May. The district attorney had declined to charge Gray for shooting Deanna Kelly. It was over for now. Just in time for Clarissa and Irwin’s wedding.
“No, Deanna’s still in jail. It’s not her.” He slipped out of bed and over to his bag.
Nick’s scars matched hers, and she had kissed each of them. Then she had closed her eyes as he kissed every one of hers—including the newest ones at her navel.
According to Dr. Messamer, Gray had an intra-abdominal abscess, a complication after her appendectomy.
“Here.” He climbed back into bed with an expandable file folder. “For you.”
She pulled out a sheet of paper from the folder.
LAST KNOWN ADDRESS AS OF AUGUST 30 FOR …
Mouth dry, mind spinning, Gray’s eyes darted to Nick’s. “Sean. You found him?”
“He’s there. Nursing his most recent stab wound, I guess.”
“How do you know?”
“Before coming here, I found him there.”
There. Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
“Luxury condo with an ocean view,” Nick said. “Four bedrooms, five baths, blond wood floors, quartz countertops. And a dog run.”
“Why Mexico?”
“Someone has a little tax problem with Uncle Sam.” Nick paused, then amended himself. “No—a big tax problem.”
Gray’s eyes bugged. “Is he evading…”
“The feds?” Nick nodded. “But I have friends. Eyes everywhere.”
She squinted at him. “I wanna be there when they arrest him. I’ll buy the tickets.”
Nick said, “We were supposed to go on that booze cruise tomorrow.”
“Fuck a watered-down mai tai. I want this.”
Nick lay back in the pillows. “If I do that for you, what will you do for me?”
Him looking like that … looking at her like that …
Damn.
The room tilted.
Smiling, Gray straddled Nick’s hips and gazed into her lover’s eyes.
She’d do anything.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For many reasons, this is one of my most personal stories. It took a moment for me to figure out how to write it and I’m so grateful to those who helped bring it to the world. Thanks to my agent, Jill Marsal, for always being there—your sharp eye and constant encouragement mean so much to me. Thanks to my editor, Kristin Sevick, for believing in this story, and Alexis Saarela and my team at Forge for spreading the word. Thank you, Crystal Patriarche, Tabitha Bailey, and BookSparks, for your great ideas and incredible support.